SELMA — Debbie Lakes woke up early Saturday morning to family members telling her of a shooting outside her house near the Bush Hog plant.

Forty-five minutes later, she experienced it as her house at 2511 Etheredge Ave. was riddled with bullets in a shooting that claimed the life of man in her front yard.

“They shot the first time, and they missed,” Lakes said. “Then about 45 minutes later, they came back and got him.”

Lakes said she sought cover in her house during the hail of gunfire, and waited until it subsided.

When it finally did, she went outside and saw a man lying on the ground in her yard. He had suffered a gunshot to the head.

“I don’t know how many times they shot him,” Lakes said. “It was too many and impossible to count. But they got him in the head.”

A man from Lakes’ neighborhood, who asked not to be identified, said he awoke to the sound of police sirens responding to the area.

“I came down here to check on my mama,” he said. “In this neighborhood, you have to be aware of what’s around you.”

Lakes knew the victim, but did not know his name. She said he was one of a large group of people who routinely hang out at Ford’s Grocery, which is across the street, and barbecue nearly every day in her front yard.

Another man from Uniontown, who also asked to not be identified, said the victim’s name was either Terry or Tevin, but was known to friends as “T.”

“He was the coolest person you’re ever going to meet,” he said. “Why anybody would want to kill him, that’s what I’m trying to figure out.”

Lakes’ yard, which the men said is usually full of people, was calm Saturday afternoon with several balloons tied to a wooden cross erected near the street.

Lakes said the victim was not involved with drugs, did not drink and did not smoke.

The yard, however, is littered with Bud Light cans, the words “Crip” and “East Side” are painted on a fence on the property and Mayor George Evans said drugs were found on the victim’s body and in his car.

Evans also said a suspect had been taken in for questioning, but he wouldn’t comment further until the investigation is complete.

Multiple attempts to reach the officers who were on the scene were unsuccessful, and numerous phone calls to Dallas County Coroner Alan Dailey went unreturned.

Selma Times-Journal reporter Chris Wasson contributed to this report.